December...it's nice to remember

December has always been one of my favourite months. During my school days, we had 7 weeks of holidays where my sisters and I would spend a week at our school Christian Union Camp. Besides, they are not just school holidays but holidays. And this year, we've got 4 eg. Hari Raya Haji, Sultan Selangor's Birthday, Christmas and Awal Muharram! Last weekend, the Shopping Malls were already packed with shoppers (which is good for the retail business).

Come to think of it; over these past 3 years or so, John and I had planned our 'running' holidays around December. We ran the Honolulu Marathon, Singapore Marathon, Chiengmai Marathon and Angkor Wat Half Marathon, all in December! This December we will be running the Macau Marathon. In addition to that, I was born in December - not that it's such a big deal but it's nice to remember. And to be remembered.

December is when I've passed the water-sheds of my life. It was the month in which I became old enough - old enough to drive, old enough to be drafted, old enough to marry, old enough to make important decisions and old enough to vote.

This December will be the month when I say goodbye to the retail industry, where I had spent half of my lifetime! As much as I enjoy 'retail-tainment' and all the little 'luxuries' and incentives that the retail industry has to offer - I seriously need to take a break and perhaps, give myself a chance to change direction, for the better (I believe).

For most of my life, it seems I've looked at people ahead of me - people with better jobs, higher salary or bigger cars. Like seeing the elite runners ahead of me on an out-and-back course, I've observed some friends getting promoted, receiving bigger pay raises and depending on how you define these things, pull in front of me. And it seemed that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't catch them. But then, there are others behind me as well...struggling to catch me. Now I also know of people who are working as hard as me, who are looking at me and wondering why they can't catch me. And I realized that I must never be greedy but should always be contented and proud to have come this far.

Therefore, this December I shall steer clear of that cliched phrase "how time flies" but rather, as I move on to another year...my hope is that I will come to see myself more honestly. I hope I will become better at assessing my strengths and weaknesses without being controlled by them. I will accept that, as a person, I will always be somewhere in the pack, as I am as a runner. Yeah, as with running, life is a matter constantly checking on how I feel about where I am, how contented I am with this life and whether I have the guts to dare to do something different.